The world's poorest children could soon have a tablet of their very own, thanks to One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the organisation which aims to bring low-cost computing to the developing world.
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OLPC's tablet, dubbed the XO 3.0 and shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, comes equipped with a 20-centimetre touchscreen and runs either Android or Linux software.
The device is designed for outdoor use with a rugged green rubber case and can be powered by a hand-crank, built-in solar panel, or regular power adaptor. Cranking for 6 minutes should produce 2 watts of power, allowing the low-energy tablet to run for an hour. Some models will also be equipped with a Pixel Qi screen, which provides a low-power, e-ink style display that can easily be viewed in bright sunlight.
OLPC's long-standing aim is to produce a computer for $100, but it has yet to confirm a price for the new tablet. There is, however, an unusual distribution plan in place: dropping them into remote areas by helicopter, as OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte told New Scientist last month.
Jacob Aron, New Scientist